Why an Independent Journalist Filed a $10 Million Defamation Suit Against This Dem...
Lefty Trump Supporter Blasts the Elites for Inducing a Fake Market Sell-Off Over...
Why Eric Adams Left the Democratic Party
Why Elon Musk Called This Chuck Schumer Clip 'Pure Gold'
All the Ukrainian Known Knowns
The Malignance of Rooting Against America
The Dismal Science and the Trumpian Tariff Hullabaloo
One GOP Senator Joined Democrats in Voting Against Confirming Dhillon
CNN Accidentally Admits Preference for 'Shadowy Influence' Over 'Open Participation in Dem...
Caterwauling Over a Kennedy Center Coup
Mega-Successful Businessman Trump Is Taking the Biased and Ignorant Economists 'Back to Sc...
Culture Still Matters
Dismantling the FDA’s Tobacco Office Marks a New Beginning
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Legacy of Justice and His Support for...
Ridding America of the Invisible Liability Lawfare Tax Is Long Overdue
Tipsheet

Senate Democrat Announces His Retirement

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Sen. Patrick Leahy announced Monday he will retire at the end of his term.

In office since 1975, the 81-year-old Vermont Democrat is the longest serving senator still in office. 

Advertisement

"While I will continue to serve Vermont, Marcelle and I have reached the conclusion that it's time to put down the gavel. It is time to pass the torch to the next Vermonter who will carry on this work for our great state. It's time to come home," Leahy said at a press conference in Vermont.

"I'm proud to be Vermont's longest-serving senator because I know my time in the Senate has made a difference for Vermonters," he continued. "I know I've been there for my state when I was needed most. I know I've taken our best ideas and helped them grow. I brought Vermont's voice to the United States Senate and Vermont's values around the world."

The announcement marks the end of a political era. First elected to the Senate in 1974, Leahy is the last of the so-called Watergate babies who were elected after President Richard Nixon’s resignation. During his nearly half-century in the Senate, Vermont shifted from one of the most solidly Republican states in the country to one of its most progressive.

That transition will be critical to Democrats who hope to maintain control of the Senate after next year’s midterm elections. With the chamber evenly divided, the party can’t afford to lose any of its current seats. [...]

By retiring and creating the first vacancy in Vermont’s congressional delegation since 2006, Leahy sets up a scramble to succeed him among a number of the state’s up-and-coming politicians. (AP)

Advertisement

Leahy is now the sixth U.S. senator to announce their retirement. Sens. Richard Burr, Roy Blunt, Richard Shelby, Pat Toomey, and Rob Portman—all Republicans—have also said they’re leaving public office. 

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Recommended

Trending on Townhall Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement